House Approves New Hurdles For Jobless Benefits

By Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

Tougher steps to qualify for unemployment benefits cleared the Florida House Tuesday.

The Republican-controlled chamber voted 81-31 on the proposal (HB 191) that would disqualify claimants who do not contact a required number of employers weekly, don’t appear for scheduled job interviews or don’t return to work when recalled after layoffs.

Rep. Shane Abbott, R-DeFuniak Springs, said his proposal won’t impact people with valid claims, claiming the intent is to stop fraud.

“This doesn’t make it hard to get unemployment for somebody that has a valid claim,” Abbott said. “This bill stops the fraudulent stuff.”

Floridians can receive a maximum of $275 in weekly unemployment benefits for 12 weeks, one of the lowest amounts in the country. But to qualify they must conduct at least five job searches per week, three in some smaller counties, and log them into the state Connect system. If the unemployment rate goes over 5 percent, the payments can extend out to 23 weeks.

Florida’s unemployment rate currently stands at 4.3 percent, which represents an estimated 486,000 Floridians qualified as unemployed in December from a workforce of 11.225 million people. The number of people estimated out of work is up from 466,000 qualifying as unemployed in November.

The measure would also put additional requirements on the Department of Commerce for verifying eligibility.

For instance, the department would have to check every two weeks to make sure claimants are alive, not incarcerated and not employed. Also, the department would be required to share information about fraudulent claims with state and federal agencies and maintain a web page for people or businesses to report possible fraud.

Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said the benefits shouldn’t be made harder to access under the guise of fraud prevention that is already in place.

“To qualify for unemployment in Florida, you have to be someone who is able to work, who has a W2 job, not a gig economy job,” Eskamani said. “You have to have worked a certain amount of hours, a certain amount of time to apply for unemployment. And you have to have contributed to the unemployment trust fund because, again, this is not a handout, this is actually your money that you have contributed with your employer to an insurance program to be there for you if you lose your job at no fault of your own.”

Republicans defeated several Democratic amendments, including a provision that would exempt people with medical emergencies, living in rural areas with limited job access or experiencing a lack of available childcare.

Jacksonville Democratic Rep. Angie Nixon said people should be able to reject a job that doesn’t cover their expenses, noting that childcare in some areas costs $700 to $1,000 a month.

“Cruelty and harm is the point of this Legislature,” said Nixon. “These people work a job, and they should be eligible for unemployment assistance.”

The Senate version (SB 216) awaits action on the chamber’s floor.